A VERY happy new year to all our readers and we look forward to what will be a hugely exciting year for Irish equestrian sport with Tokyo 2020.

It’s going to be a milestone year on the international equestrian stage for sure.

Horse sports featured prominently on the national radar this Christmas with international show jumping from London Olympia, Liverpool International and Mechelen as well as brilliant racing from Leopardstown, Limerick and Kempton.

Unfortunately, also featuring strongly on social media over the same period, were terrible incidents of neglected horses and ponies that made for shocking viewing.

Graphic images were posted online by Deel Animal Action Group of dead and starving horses and ponies found on lands at Rathkeale, Co Limerick. Dead ponies lay among the living who picked their way over spent fields and if it had not been for this group’s efforts, more animals would doubtlessly have suffered and perished. The Gardaí, veterinary personnel and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, were contacted and assisted.

Who is responsible for such neglect and cruelty? The usual Irish answer comes to the fore as yet again, nobody seems to be responsible or being held accountable yet for this.

Meanwhile in Co Kilkenny, equally disturbing images of a black horse found in a bad state, collapsed in trees near two roundabouts, were posted on social media by a horrified passer-by who contacted the authorities. Again Gardaí and veterinary personnel responded to the scene but the horse had to be euthanised, such was its condition.

Our collective new year’s resolution, as a nation of horse lovers and as a vibrant industry that relies on the horse for its very existence, must be to blow the whistle loud and clear to the relevant authorities on any such disturbing sightings or findings. Here’s to zero tolerance.